Advice

Approximately 15,000 referrals a year are made to local businesses and we to try and make sure that our great town is served by great local businesses. We would like everyone to have a safe and reliable company every time but we are not responsible for any work undertaken as a referral from this Website.

To help you check, here are some tips.

Do not accept estimates – Often provided at a lower price to gain your business but charge more later. Always ask for a quote.

Ask for written evidence of the above especially liability insurance.

Before paying any money agree a contract with your business to outline the work.

Check reviews on the company – Google, Checkatrader, yell.com, trustpilot and their own Facebook page or website can provide reviews . Use an internet engine to search company name and add the word reviews ie search for Bourne enterprise reviews. Ask for customer references and work done previously.

Do not always choose the company with the most people recommending them; as sometimes this might be friends, family or employees recommending them. For personal recommendations only posts admins will do their best to remove known family and employees comments.

Always get a few quotes – Make sure the quote is clear about what work is being performed.

If you can pay by credit card and always ask for a receipt:

Always check for correct qualifications and insurance prior to any work being performed especially for appliance work, electrical, plumbing, waste disposal and electrical gas/central heating work.

If the company claim to part of a governing body such as NICEC, NAPIT, ElecSA and Stroma for electrical work ask for their registration number and check.

For Gas/Heating work they need to be gas safe registered and is up to date.

For waste disposal make sure they can provide you with the waste license and a ticket to take it for it to be disposed.

For minor electric works make sure you get a certificate of work and for bathroom work or main circuit work make sure the work is performed or formally certified by some one who is registered with a governing body.

Personal recommendations – If you want this please specify this in your post and we will do our best to make sure that happens.

Complaints – We ask that all complaints be tackled directly with the company in the first instance. Document the issues and put it in writing. If this has been exhausted please let an admin know before posting. We will then try and explore the facts. We have and will continue to remove companies where we we can see poor service. We will then decide to allow the post, remove the company or advise the member not to post.